How do you stop your phone being hacked?

After a week of hacking revelations a lot of people want to check that their voicemail is safe.

The News of the World exploited the fact that, on most networks, if you have never set up a pin number the default is normally something very simple.

That meant journalists were able to access other people’s messages from any phone they wanted.

To give you added protection you can go to your voicemail options and change the settings or phone your operator and ask them to do it for you.

Don’t go for anything obvious, like the year you were born or 1234. If you can, choose a long string of numbers that you are able to memorise.

Network by Network Guide

T-Mobile -Dial 222 and then hit 1 to enter a pin. You will already have had to make at least one call on pay-as-you-go in order to have voicemail set up.

O2 – Dial 901 for voicemail then press * to interrupt the menu. Select 4 and follow the prompts.

Orange – Call 123 from your phone for voicemail then follow the prompts to go into settings. Orange lets you have a pin between four and ten digits long. The longer the more secure you will be.

Three – When you dial 123 to set up voicemail you will have been asked to enter a pin. To change it, call 123 again, enter your old PIN and follow the instructions. You can have a pin up to eight digits.

Vodafone – Call 121 and, at the prompt, press 4 then 2. To change it dial 121, press 4, 2 and 2. You will need to enter your old pin to create a new one. Entering the wrong pin three times will lock your voicemail.

Next Steps:

If you have any tips you would like to offer then please leave them in the comments below